Who fixes your field data?

I was having a conversation with a client yesterday, and while just throwing ideas around, she offered up a gem. “Why not get the field users to correct their own data.” It’s brilliant in its simplicity, and the long term ramifications of adopting this work flow are huge.

For those of us who’ve either managed work crews collecting information, or were perhaps once doing the collection ourselves, how many times have you heard the phrase “Don’t worry about it, they’ll fix it up in the office.”Let’s be clear, this isn’t a technology issue, it’s all about process.

Option one is to simply make the change and be done with it. Some times it may even require a phone call to the inspector to work out what the issue was. The positive is that it’s fast, the downside that you’re training your crews that “it’ll get fixed in the office”, while you become busier and busier being the fixer.

Option two is to push it back to them, so that they make the corrections. It may take a while to get the message across, but once people know they’re going to have to fix up their own work, they will take more care. You’re in effect training them to do it right the first time.

I suspect in reality, the optimal solution is a combination of both, but I would suggest that option one would be far less regular than two.

That all being said, you do need to be confident that your technical solution makes it simple for your crews to do their part well. If it’s too hard or frustrating, that’s your problem, don’t make it theirs.